The invention relates to receptacles (hereinafter called packs) which can be utilized for storage and for displaying of notions and/or other relatively small commodities. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in packs of the type found, for example, in self-service stores for confinement and simultaneous displaying of randomly confined or accurately arrayed groups of commodities in the form of needles, pins, washers, nails, nuts, storage batteries and/or many others within reach of sales personnel and/or prospective purchasers. Still more particularly, the invention relates to packs of the type having a first section made of a degradable material and designed to be suspended on a rod, rail, bar or a like support, and a second section which cooperates with the first section to confine a group of commodities or a single commodity and is normally designed to permit visual inspection of the confined commodity or commodities.
Notions and like commodities are often offered for sale in so-called blister packs wherein the degradable section is made of cardboard or the like and has a flat extension which is provided with an opening to enable a salesperson to slip the extension onto a rail or a like support. A prospective purchaser can remove a blister pack from the rail for the purposes of inspection or for taking to the checkout counter. A drawback of blister packs is that the commodities which are confined between the degradable section and the plastic cover are not readily accessible because the cover is bonded to the carrier in order to prevent accidental spilling or unauthorized removal of the contents. Moreover, a blister pack is rather expensive and, once opened, cannot reassume a state for safe confinement of the entire contents or of the remaining contents of the pack. In addition, the degradable part of a blister pack cannot be readily and/or completely separated from the plastic part. On the other hand, there exists an urgent need for packs wherein the degradable and non-degradable parts can be completely and predictably separated from each other, even before the decomposition of the degradable part begins. This is required by authorities in many countries and in many localities. Thus, the residents of many towns here and abroad are expected to classify refuse into biodegradable and non-degradable components.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,611 granted Nov. 26, 1991 to Hagmann et al. discloses a blister pack for storage of needles and like small commodities. The patented pack is constructed and assembled in such a way that it can be opened and resealed as often as desired. Furthermore, a substantial part of the non-degradable section of the patented pack can be readily and completely separated from the degradable section. Withdrawn commodities can be reinserted into the patented pack in the same orientation as in the original pack.